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How to Win Your 2013 Office Oscar Pool

The Oscars are this Sunday and very likely your office (or friends or neighbors) will be asking you to fill out your ballots sometime this week. If you’re anything like me, you wait until the last possible minute to fill them out. Sometimes I just copy whatever Roger Ebert predicts (Hey, why the heck not?) or scramble to pick whatever I’ve seen and/or liked.

Luckily, this year Glamour has us both working ahead (and if you saw my picks for Glamour last year, I see that some of you won. Fantastic!). I can’t guarantee an absolute win with my ballot, but I’m going to give you a darn good shot at taking home the gold (or cash or pride ). I’ve been known to win many Oscar pools in my day. But let’s all remember 2013 is a crazy year, and if we’re going to see any excitement on Sunday then let’s hope for some big surprises.

Here’s my picks

Best Picture

Argo has been sweeping, and perhaps with good reason. The film is a solid piece of filmmaking. From the mixing of new and archive footage to a fantastic score, audiences and critics were left on the edge of their seats even though this movie is about a historic event—we all know what happens.

Second Choice: If you want to get risky, you could go for Zero Dark Thirty (or even Lincoln). Both are excellent films that many Academy members could find most worthy.

Best Director

Unfortunately there aren’t a bunch of telltale signs here. This is really anyone’s win. Ben Affleck has been sweeping this category all over the world—yet he is not nominated for an Oscar. I’m going to put my money on Steven Spielberg. It’s been a while since he got the credit he deserves and Lincoln really has been a passion project for him.

Second Choice: Michael Haneke for Amour. He’s been creating critical darlings for years and Amour may be his most moving film yet.

Best Actor

Lock, stock, and smoking barrel, Daniel Day-Lewis should put the statue on his mantle now. The statue for his role in Lincoln is already his. While every man’s performance in the category is admirable, it’s rare to watch someone of Daniel Day-Lewis’s talent embody one of the most important figures in American history. He wasn’t playing Lincoln; he became him.

Second Choice: Denzel Washington in Flight. He’s another master at his craft. Denzel takes the most unlikable characters and gives them depth.

Best Actress

Some crazy things have been happening with this category lately. Playing it safe? Choose Emmanuelle Riva for Amour. She won the BAFTA, and usually whoever wins the Best Actress BAFTA takes home the Best Actress Oscar. Am I going to be a rebel? Totally. I’m going to put Jessica Chastain on my ballot this year for her work in Zero Dark Thirty. Maybe I’m biased because I loved her in Take Shelter. But she’s been a working actress for a while, and her talent has been transforming. She’s exactly the kind of actress Oscar should honor.

Second Choice: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook. She’s currently the frontrunner for a lot of betting sites. While she is a bit on the young side for the Academy, she has spunk and loads of talent.

The Rest

Instead of reasoning the rest of my choices with you, I’m simply going to give you my picks straight out. There are so many reasons behind each of them and SO many categories that it would be unfair to make this a 3,000-word essay. Who has the time?